The Random Transformers Thoughts Thread

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

In the TR Autobot Breakaway review thread a comment was made that the toy was disappointing due to the lack of Getaway's distinctive shoulder pads, and okay, fair point, but I don't know if I completely agree with this sentiment, and here's why.

Being the one who made that comment, I didn't necessarily mean it was a bad toy, I have Chromdome and thnk he's wonderful. I just don't think it's a very good fit for Getaway. I find the aspect that separates Getaway from all the other cars is his shoulders. Which is a design aspect I rather like.
So without the all important shoulders, I am not interested in him. I'm perfectly fine with updates that don't exactly replicate the figure, but I do want the toy to contain the aspects of that character I like. While Breakaway does have a fairly accurate paint job and face, without the shoulders, it is to me, not Getaway-enough for my liking.

[GoktimusPrime]

If they ever made a TR Pointblank/LG Blanker they could potentially gang-mould it with Getaway parts; similar to what they did w/ Blurr/Brainstorm.

[UltraMarginal]

Being the one who made that comment, I didn't necessarily mean it was a bad toy, I have Chromdome and thnk he's wonderful. I just don't think it's a very good fit for Getaway. I find the aspect that separates Getaway from all the other cars is his shoulders. Which is a design aspect I rather like.
So without the all important shoulders, I am not interested in him. I'm perfectly fine with updates that don't exactly replicate the figure, but I do want the toy to contain the aspects of that character I like. While Breakaway does have a fairly accurate paint job and face, without the shoulders, it is to me, not Getaway-enough for my liking.

If they ever made a TR Pointblank/LG Blanker they could potentially gang-mould it with Getaway parts; similar to what they did w/ Blurr/Brainstorm.

which is why if I don't like a repaint, I just wait a few years and the repainted character will probably come out as a more suitable mould. let other people buy the repaints that fuel the corporate machine

[SuspectimusPrime]

which is why if I don't like a repaint, I just wait a few years and the repainted character will probably come out as a more suitable mould. let other people buy the repaints that fuel the corporate machine

Exactly my take on CW.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Did a minor box purge to clear out some space for upcoming MPs; mostly G1 encore series boxes which I would never use again. Feels a bit weird having kept the boxes all these years, and I don't even know if I made a dent at all

Another random thought: I wonder what the rationale is for the speckly stone black/grey background used for the TT MP box pics.

[tinyJazz]

Another random thought: I wonder what the rationale is for the speckly stone black/grey background used for the TT MP box pics.

A background with a shade and texture that contrasts strongly with the figure's colour and texture making the figure pop in the photos.
Also not picking a colourful background so that the colours aren't reflected onto the figure itself.

That's my guess. (also maybe something about Cybertron being metal and grey because that's the environment the characters are from.)

[GoktimusPrime]

Random Thought 1: Saying "Fixit" with a thick NZ accent sounds funny.

Random Thought 2: Fansplanation for CW Liokaiser in terms of some of the name differences and why Leozack and Jallguar have been replaced by Dezarus...

What if some of the CW Destrons aren't actually the original G1 Breast Forcers, but rather their descendants? The Victory manga established that the Decepticons had children and even Conjunx Endurae, such as Esmeral, Deathsaurus' conjunx endura. But other members would be the original members with new bodies. So kinda like the Wiggles where the original Blue Wiggle is still a member of the current group, but the others have been replaced by new members. Perhaps the new members are Constructed Cold with their Sparks having been grown from a portion of either their "father's" Spark and with an innermost Energon contribution from their "mother." And then their names are an amalgam of their "father" and "mother's" names (or possibly father and father as we didn't see any closeup of the Breastmasters' Conjunx Endurae (only for Dino Force), so they could've had male Conjunx Endurae for all we know (not that it matters beyond the use of noun choice, really). So for example, maybe Hellbat's Conjunx Endurae had a name started with F, and thus their progeny was called "Fellbat." Killbison's Conjunx Endurae had "Iron" in his/her name, and thus their progeny was called "Ironbison." And then perhaps Leozack and Jallguar were Conjunx Endura to each other, but decided to name their progeny "Dezarus" as a diminutive form tribute to Deszaras.

So...
* Drillhorn = original member w/ upgraded bod
* Guyhawk = original member w/ upgraded bod
* Fellbat = new member, Spark-child of Hellbat & his Conjunx Endura
* Ironbison = new member, Spark-child of Killbison & his Conjunx Endura
* Dezarus = new member, Spark-child of Leozack & Jallguar
* Ion Scythe = new member, secret Spark-child of Death Cobra seeking revenge

[GoktimusPrime]

Don'tcha love it when you have a debate with yourself? Only me?

RE: Magna Convoy

Part of me finds it odd that a presumably male Transformer would have the feminine "Magna" in his name (unless Magna Convoy happens to be female...), but then another part of me is reminding that first part of me that there are other male Transformers with feminine names, such as the 'Ultra' in Ultra Magnus, hence my point is invalid.

Well played, other me. Well played.

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Ever been caught out reading Transformers comics aloud in character voices to yourself? Happened to me last week. Came home after picking up the latest IDW comics and I thought I was alone in the bedroom and started reading aloud. Unknown to me the wife was sitting next to the doorway and was watching me. She laughed out loud when she saw me notice her.

What? It's fun! Although it no longer bothers her when I do the voices and sounds when I play with my toys - but she did initially find it odd in the early stages of our marriage. Guess she hadn't seen me do a live comic reading before (admittedly I don't do it very often).

I'm sure this happens to the rest of you guys.

[Sinnertwin]

All the time...

[Magnus]

I wasn't sure if I should do a seven-year thread necro in its own review thread, but I've 'renewed' my appreciation for RotF Jetfire after playing with it while dusting it and checking its batteries.

Considering what it has to do, it's actually pretty good. Besides obviously transforming between Blackbird and robot modes (and the design may not have been finalised when the toy was designed, although major details look pretty close to the final CGI model), it also had to have the electronics block and it needed to combine with Optimus Prime.

It seems to me like that last requirement is responsible for the screen-inaccurate plane parts on the robot mode, since in robot mode the top of the head is formed from the cockpit canopy and the engines form the thighs, but the engine nacelles and the splitting cockpit are needed for combined mode. I wonder if Jetfire's silhouette could have been slimmer and possibly more screen-accurate had the need to combine not been there. Who knows, there might have even been a little less bulk under the fuselage in vehicle mode.

Design compromised for gimmicks? Probably, but the designers came up with something that looks and works pretty well, given those limitations.